Edison International

Edison International is a privately-owned energy corporation which generates and distributes electricity and invests in infrastructure and energy assets. Its subsidiaries include Southern California Edison, Midwest Generation LLC, and un-regulated non-utility assets Edison Mission Energy, a power producer, and Edison Capital. Edison's roots trace back to Holt & Knupps, a company founded in 1886 as a provider of street lights in Visalia, California.

Campaign contributions
Edison is a major contributor to both Republican and Democratic candidates for Congress. These contributions total $360,200 to the 110th US Congress (as of the third quarter), the largest of which has been to Arlen Specter (R-PA) for $12,000.

Contributions like this from from fossil fuel companies to members of Congress are often seen as a political barrier to pursuing clean energy. 

More information on coal industry contributions to Congress can be found at FollowtheCoalMoney.org, a project sponsored by the nonpartisan, nonprofit Oil Change International and Appalachian Voices.

Lobbyists
Edison International (formerly Southern California Edison) spent $640,000 in the first quarter of 2009 on in-house lobbying team work on climate change issues. The company's registered lobbyist is Michelle Holiday.

CEO compensation
In May 2007, Forbes listed Edison International CEO John E. Bryson as receiving $12.36 million in total compensation for the latest fiscal year, with a five-year total compensation of $52.11 million. He ranked 4th on the list of CEOs in the Utilities industry, and 148th among all CEOs in the United States.

Power portfolio
Out of its total 16,676 MW of electric generating capacity in 2005 (1.56% of the U.S. total), Edison produces 66.4% from coal, 13.5% from nuclear, 9.7% from natural gas, 7.0% from hydroelectricity, 2.5% from oil, and 0.9% from wind. Edison owns power plants in California, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Washington, and West Virginia; 41.4% of Edison's energy comes from Illinois, and 30.3% comes from California.

Existing coal-fired power plants
Edison had 23 coal-fired generating stations in 2005, with 11,071 MW of capacity. Here is a list of Edison's coal power plants with capacity over 100 MW:

In 2006, Edison's 8 major coal-fired power plants (7 of which were operational) emitted 46.9 million tons of CO2 (0.78% of all U.S. CO2 emissions) and 182,000 tons of SO2 (1.22% of all U.S. SO2 emissions).

Coal Ash Waste and Water Contamination
In August 2010 a study released by the Environmental Integrity Project, the Sierra Club and Earthjustice reported that Illinois, along with 34 states, had significant groundwater contamination from coal ash that was not recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The report, in an attempt to pressure the EPA to regulate coal ash, noted that most states do not monitor drinking water contamination levels near waste disposal sites. The report mentioned Illinois' Joliet 9 Generating Station, Marion Plant and Venice Power Station were three sites that have groundwater contamination due to coal ash waste.

Edison International's Crawford and Fisk Plants and Environmental Justice
Both Edison International's Crawford Generating Station and Fisk Generating Station are located on the lower west side of Chicago, in the predominantly Latino areas of Pilsen and Little Village, as well as nearby neighborhoods with a significant population of African Americans, raising issues around environmental justice and coal. Within miles of each plant are homes, parks, schools, etc. Crawford and Fisk are among over 100 coal plants near residential areas.

Citizen groups and EPA to file suit against Edison subsidiary Midwest Generation
In July 2009, five groups of environmental and public health advocates announced their intent to file a Clean Air Act lawsuit against Midwest Generation, LLC, a subsidiary of Edison International. The groups say Midwest's six Illinois power plants are decades old and do not have the appropriate pollution controls according to EPA standards. Specifically, the lawsuit will focus on opacity violations, a measurement of the light blocked by particulate matter from smokestacks at Midwest's Crawford, Fisk, Joliet, Powerton, Waukegan, and Will County stations.

The concerned groups include Citizens Against Ruining the Environment, the Environmental Law and Policy Center, Natural Resources Defense Council, the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago, and Sierra Club. The six power plants in question are located in working class and minority neighborhoods, raising concerns about environmental justice. The groups expect to file suit in 60 days, unless Midwest Generation comes into compliance or stops operating, or unless the EPA takes other measures. Shannon Fisk, an attorney for NRDC, described Midwest's Fisk and Crawford plants as, "two dinosaurs in the middle of a large city. They should have cleaned up decades ago. Running those plants is inexpensive for the company, but it's very expensive for public health." A 2001 study by a professor at the Harvard University School of Public Health found that particulate matter from the Fisk and Crawford plants contributes to 41 deaths, 550 emergency room visits, and 2800 asthma attacks each year.

Midwest spokesman Doug MacFarlan said the company is being targeted unfairly, and that Midwest's plants release less particulate matter than most. He also said the company had responded to local complaints by reducing both the amount of coal piled up at Crawford and the dust that blows off barges transporting its coal. "We really believe we have demonstrated environmental responsibility at those plants," McFarlan said. In 2006, Midwest made an agreement with the state of Illinois to reduce emissions at its coal plants. The company has installed mercury controls, but has not decided whether to install scrubbers or shut the plants down. The company has until 2015 to install scrubbers at its Fisk plant and until 2018 at its Crawford plant.

On August 28, 2009, less than a month after the lawsuit was filed, the EPA, Department of Justice, and state of Illinois announced that they would also be filing suit against Midwest Generation for illegal emissions of particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide.

2010: United States Files Clean Air Act Complaint Against Homer City Power Plant
On January 11, 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a Clean Air Act complaint on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency against Midwest Generation and Edison International over their Homer City Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant in Homer City, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.

According to the complaint filed by the EPA, beginning in 1990 operators of the Homer City Power Plant violated the Clean Air Act New Source Review requirements by making major modifications to the boiler units at the power plant and continuing to operate without first obtaining appropriate permits and installing and operating the best available pollution control technologies to reduce sulfur dioxide and particulate matter.

In addition, the complaint alleged that the plant operators had not disclosed the plant’s major modifications, the need for best available control technologies, nor the appropriate emissions limits in their request for a Title V operating permit from Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection. Also, the defendants’ Title V permit did not include the required limits on emissions that would be achieved using the best available pollution control technologies.

States join Homer suit
In February 2011, New Jersey joined in the lawsuit filed by the federal government, New York, and Pennsylvania, asking the court to shut down the plant until it meets standards of the Clean Air Act, as well as civil penalties and other relief. A spokesman for owner Edison Mission Energy has said the company spent about $300 million since its 1999 purchase to reduce emissions and that violations occurred before it acquired the facility.

October 24, 2009: Activists protest outside Fisk Generating Station in Chicago, IL
Hundreds of activists gathered to march and rally in front of the Fisk Generating Station in Chicago, IL to observe an international day of action on climate change. At the protest, eight people locked arms and sat down in front of the power plant. All eight were issued citations.

May 2011: Activists stop coal barge, climb on coal plant
On May 24, 2011, Greenpeace activists stopped a coal barge from the Pulaski Bridge, displaying a banner on the river bridge that said “We can stop coal” and “Nosotros podemos parar el carbόn.” Dangling above the water, the presence of the activists prevented three coal barges from passing, according to the activsts. From the bridge, the activists proclaimed to Edison International that people have the right to choose clean energy for their communities. They demanded that Edison International shut down the Fisk and Crawford plants. In spring 2011, the Chicago City Council failed to vote on the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance, which would have forced the plants to clean up or shut down.

In a separate action the same day, Greenpeace activists climbed the smokestack of the Fisk Generating Station and unfurled yellow banners with "Quit Coal" printed on them. After several hours atop the structure, several of the climbers rappelled down the smokestack and painted the same words on it. The eight activists were arrested and released on bail on May 26, and are scheduled to appear in court on July 1, 2011. They are charged with felony criminal damage to property.

Contact details
Website: http://www.edison.com/

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Illinois and coal
 * Pennsylvania and coal
 * United States and coal
 * Global warming

External resources

 * Follow the Coal Money